Student documentary wins peace award

The Alexander documentary crew, (from left) Ben Dobson, Janna Sicely, Anders Bergan, Amy Bridson and Christiaan Abernethy. Simon Riley is not pictured

A group of aspiring filmmakers won a 2004 Media Peace Award for a short documentary made on a shoestring budget, but rich in emotional content.

Alexander, a documentary about an autistic boy made by a group of students from Unitec's bachelor of performing and screen arts (BPSA) degree, received the award at a ceremony in November. The judges praised the film's innovative techniques, which involved underwater filming of eight-year-old Alexander.

Director Janna Sicely says that capturing Alexander swimming underwater was a crucial part of the documentary.

"Alexander is a fascinating child. He's lovely and has a huge character and we wanted to show that. He's at peace in the water and we had the idea of showing how swimming was his world."

But with a budget of $100 to shoot the documentary, expensive underwater cameras weren't an option, so production manager Amy Bridson came up with a novel solution. She used a small digital video camera blue-tacked to the inside of a fish tank so that cinematographer Ben Dobson could keep the camera kept dry in the swimming pool.

The documentary was part of the students' coursework and they were able call upon prominent documentary-maker Keith Hunter to help them select a subject. "Keith was a guest lecturer for the course," says Janna. "We ran three ideas for a documentary past him and he helped us select Alexander – his advice was that we should really care about the topic we covered."

At the time of filming Janna was a third-year directing and writing major in the BPSA. She says the Unitec lecturers are all experienced filmmakers themselves and have played a key role in her development. "It's a very creative-based school. As well as the technical filmmaking skills you also learn how to learn. All the tutors have different ideas about what they like in films and you are being exposed to a range of ideas, so you are able to form your own ideas as a result."

The students who made up the crew for Alexander were from the screen arts major of the degree and, along with Janna, had already collaborated on a number of projects. Janna says the opportunity to mingle with students from the other majors and choose who you want to work with is a strength of the degree.

Alexander's editor, Anders Bergan, says working with like-minded people helps when making movies and documentaries.

"If a group of people all believe in a film they work together better. It's about how much you trust each other."

The filmmakers have now completed their final year at Unitec and Janna says that having a tight-knit group means they can pursue projects together. "It's good to have this support network now that we're looking for work."

The bachelor of performing and screen arts takes three years full-time and has majors in writing and directing for screen and theatre, screen arts, acting for screen and theatre, and contemporary dance.